Gas turbine engines generate a tremendous amount of heat during operation. Components of the gas turbine engine, such as turbine rotor blades, stator vanes, and blade outer air seals are directly subjected to heat, which can decrease the service life of the components.
In order to increase the service life of these components it is often necessary to form a flow chamber through the component so that a flow of cooling air can pass through the component to absorb heat generated by the gas turbine engine.
Typically flow chambers are designed to direct air in two dimensions in order to increase the amount of heat that the cooling air can absorb. Given the importance of cooling gas turbine engine components, it is desirable to design a component with a flow chamber, or a core for making such a passage, that can increase the ability of air passing through the component to absorb heat.